Ethel
Lee Wright was born on a farm in Webster County, Mississippi, on October 13,
1906, in a small community named Fame; She described it as "about
the size of a bird's nest".Fame,
the small neighborhood near Eupora. Her father, Elijah Wright known as 'Lidge' and her
Mother, Nina Bell Ramsay was of English and Scotch - Irish ancestry.

Four
children were born to this family; Ethel was the oldest of three daughters and
one son. Her two younger sisters were Hazel Edna Wright, and Eva Lloyd Wright.
The youngest child and the only son was named Ortie Orville Wright.

Her
musically talented, resourceful father, a farmer and a trader took an active
role in rearing the children to become upright and moral. Her Mother and Father
shared equally in the spiritual direction given to their children. Ethel grew up
in a warm and nurturing environment.

Ethel's
artistic Mother fostered a lasting influence on her by inspiring and teaching
her how to embroider little pictures she had created for her. Soon Ethel was
doing her own drawings for herself. In the Wright household
"when little girls would get
too nosey, they would have to sit down and do a little handwork", Ethel would say.

Ethel
and her siblings had a strong attachment for each other. She looked down on her
younger sisters and brother as a protector. She proved herself to be suitable
for the responsibility.If she had
a favorite it was surely her little brother, Ortie, although she would never
have admitted to that.

School Days

The
one-room schoolhouse Ethel attended is now an open field. The school was in
walking distance from her home. Her classroom consisted of one teacher who
taught all the children from grade one through grade eight. The girls sat on one
side of the room and the boys on the other .The grades were in rows.

In
the wintertime the boys would gather wood for the teacher to build the fire in
the wood stove. The girls would fill the inkwells and wash the blackboard. The
teacher, quite often, had been a student in the same schoolhouse and had later
gone to earn a certificate and would come back to his or her old classroom to
teach. Sometimes, Ethel would have a teacher that was related to her.

Ethel
was an excellent student and received a good education in the basic studies. She
delighted in the spelling bees, storytelling, and her favorite the outdoor
recess. The girls would jump rope, swing and play hopscotch while the boy were
busy playing ball, marbles, and mumble peg.

Young Womanhood

When
Ethel was about fifteen years old her father moved the family to Shaw,
Mississippi With much reluctance from her Father, she was finally allowed to get
a part time job working in the local bakery, owned by a Mr. Adolph Schlatter.

Each
day, one of the customers who would come into the bakery to purchase fresh bread
was a young, handsome, local dry goods merchant named Hassen Mohamed

Ethel
was aware that he would sometimes linger while eating a few cookies he had
purchased. She soon asked "You must
like those cookies" and he answered saying "No, I like you". He later told her he would marry her
someday and he did

Hassan
wasn't shy about asking if he could visit her in her home. Ethel was very
reserved and thought he was a little forward but she did eventually grant him
permission to call on her. She remembered that on his first visit he came for
Sunday dinner bringing gifts for everyone in the family. Mr. Schlatter had filled
him in as to the family members, who they were and where they lived. Hassan
courted her 'old country style'.

Hassan
soon insisted, during his visits, to include her Father in the conversations,
which caused Ethel to wonder just whom did he come to see, after all. She
realized later that Hassan was trying to make points with his future
father-in-law, Lidge Wright.

There
was a difference in their religions. Hassan was a Moslem, a believer in the
religion of Islam. Ethel and her family were Christians. Her Father, Lidge
Wright was a lay minister in the Primitive Baptist Church. After many lengthy
discussions and finally gaining Lidge's permission to marry Ethel; Hassan
proposed to her and she accepted.

They
were married on April 21, 1924. Their first three children were born in Shaw;
they were Ollie, Hazel and Nina Mae. Hassan had been a successful businessman,
after many years of peddling in the Mississippi Delta. The temptation was there
for him to find his fortune farther on.

Depression Days

In
1927 Hassan moved his family to Belzoni, Mississippi. to the thriving county
seat, located on the banks of the Yazoo River,. He and his business partner Dave
Homod had a large building constructed for the new D. Homod and H. Mohamed
General Store. . A few years later Hassan would be faced with the lowest part of
a business cycle, The Great Depression.

The
way Ethel and Hassan dealt with this serious problem, the children were never
aware of a depression. More children had been born. and Mittie Price the
housekeeper kept everything under control. She ruled with an iron hand.

There
were evenings of storytelling, sitting in front of the warm fire; listening to
Monday night's Lux Theater, on the radio; reading aloud to each other; doing
little stunt plays and weekly nights at the picture show.

Ethel
was an avid reader, especially in history and legends. She built the Mohamed
family library with reference books, general reading, and great works of the
best writers, exposing her family to the tools of developing in absolutely
essential knowledge.

With
long hours of hard work, and much anxiety Hassan made it through the depression
without a business failure or losing his life savings.

World War II

Business
was booming again. World War II was taking place. Ethel would enjoy market trips
to New York City and St. Louis with Hassan to buy merchandise for the store.
Government rationing and ceiling prices was in effect, making sure that everyone
got his or her fair share of the scarce goods. There was plenty of money in
circulation for purchases that could possibly deplete the limited supply of
commodities. Ethel enjoyed the retail business, of the buying and selling
merchandise. She became an excellent merchant and was in the store, at Hassan's
side, until his death.

In
the spring of 1949, Ethel and Hassan sailed for a six-month trip to Europe and
the Mediterranean with Sarhine, Lebanon as their destination. She met and bonded
with the large family she had heard so much about.

They
enjoyed many more years of happiness, devoted to each other, relishing in the
fact that there was no doubt or second thoughts about their marriage. The
children, in order birth Ollie, Hazel, Nina Mae, Joy, Joseph, June, Hassan, Jr.
and Carol were a source of their wealth 'the
greatest gift ofall'. They tried
to make each child feel unique, special and one of a kind. Hassan and Ethel
delighted in seeing their children as contemporaries. and loved them
unconditionally.

After
forty-one years together and rearing the eight children who would carry on many
Wright -Mohamed traditions, Hassan was faced with a long illness. Surrounded by
his loving family he died March 23, 1965.

Alone

For
the first time in her life, at the age of fifty-nine Ethel found herself alone.
The eight children were married and had their own homes and young families.
Reality set in; Hassan had taken her world with him, when he died. She knew she
wanted to keep the H. Mohamed Store in operation as long as she could.It kept her busy during the day and she took pride in proving she could
be the merchant Hassan would want her to be, by doing it well. It didnot take care of the nights.

"Where
you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself walking around
in the day time and falling into at night".

Edna
St. Vincent Millay

Ethel
said "I felt as if, I was like a big
ship floating around without anyreason
or any purpose, but one thing I had was a lot of beautiful memories. I wished I
could live my life over. Of course, I couldn't do that. I thought, if I could
write, I would write a book. I tried my hand at painting but painting wasn't it.
So, I decided to stitch a while.Sitting
in my rocking chair, I got my needle, and thread out and it was just the thing
for me".

Inspired

Ethel
would see a beautiful painting and wonder how it would look in materials
and threads. After trying a few of these and loving the results, she got
the idea to do her own designs and embroider them. When she first started
doing the embroidery, she felt a little insecure about it and didn't show
her pieces to anyone, except a few family members. Later she was more
inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidery hanging in Bayous, France,
done by Matilda the wife of William the Conqueror.

She
stitched her memories; she embroidered scenes from the early days of her
marriage; Hassan's peddling days; the store during the depression; her
ancestor's marriage; Sacred Harp Singing and over one hundred more. Ethel
was still very active in the store during the day but the stitchery was
her nightlife.

In
the early 70', an open house was held on a New Year's Eve, in Ethel's home.
Annelle Mohamed, a daughter in law, took a few of the stitchery pieces out to
show to the artist friends, who were guests at the party. Ethel, very nervous
about this, wondered what their reaction would be. They were pleased at what
they saw and Ethel thinking those were not her best, brought out more stitchery
pieces for them to look at. Rita Halbrook, a well-known Belzoni artist said,
"You know, she's found her
thing".

Fame

Her
stitchery pictures soon became in demand. They were framed and hung in the local
school and public library for showings. She was soon invited to display her
stitchery at art shows in Jackson and Memphis Tennessee.

Ethel
never sold any of her stitchery pictures. She would remark " These are my memories, I can't part with them. I have dresses,
shoes, hats and other item to sell in my store, but not my pictures."

In
1973 while participating in an art exhibit, in Jackson, Mississippi, Ethel was
discovered by two young men who were Smithsonian Institution researchers
traveling the United Sates, looking for grass roots America.

This
led to her invitation to attend the two week 1974 Festival of American Folklife
in Washington, D.C. .The Smithsonian has held this Festival each year since
1966, featuring one of the fifty states. Mississippi was featured in 1974.and
Ethel Wright Mohamed was there as a participant.

In
1975, Smithsonian Festival Designer Janet Stratton traveled to Ethel's home to
commission a tapestry to represent the three-month Bicentennial Festival of
American Folklife in Washington, D.C.. The purpose of this festival was to show
the American people their roots. The tapestry she made for the 1976 Festival is
in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution.

Twelve
of her stitchery pictures were in a six-month exhibit at the Renwick Gallery of
the National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution. It was held from
December 3, 1976 through July 10, 1977. A champagne reception was held at the
Smithsonian Castle for the opening. Ethel Wright Mohamed attended as well as
many of her family members. TheUS
Senators and Congressmen from Mississippi were there to show their appreciation.

After
this recognition, Ethel's fame spread and she was invited to be the speaker at
many organizational meetings. This is when it came to the point that the people
had to come to her. She opened her home for all to see, over 100 stitchery
pictures. They covered the walls from the high ceilings to the floor. By
appointment only, visitors came as individuals, small groups or bus tours that
would include as many as seventy people. Most visitors came from miles away.
People from almost every state in the Union and from many foreign countries
signed her guest book. Family members and friends became the docents. This was
the beginning of The Ethel Wright Mohamed Stitchery Museum.

Charities
started asking her for a stitchery picture donation. Dr. Toxey E. Hall of
Belzoni was the first to ask her to donate a picture to the American Heart
Association. She did a scene for them and named it"Shivaree". After that, she was asked for a stitchery piece by
many other charities. She made pictures for the Mississippi Agricultural Museum;
Junior League of Jackson Mississippi, Inc.; Mississippi Diabetes Association.
and theUniversity of Mississippi
Medical Center Candlelighters; Jackson , Mississippi.

The
pictures Ethel made year after year for the different charities brought over
$250,000 at the auctions. She never made another stitchery picture for herself.

Final Days

In
1980, Ethel had realized it was time to pass the H.Mohamed Store on to the one
person who loved it as much as she did. It was her grandson David Shuman
Mohamed. She walked out and never went back in.

Even
though Ethel's life was like a whirlwind, she still had plenty of time for her
children and the nineteen grandchildren. Sunday afternoons, at three o'clock,
was coffee and cake time in her studio. It was her weekly family gathering. She
would also have daily visits from her little
brotherOrtie Wright who lived
only 15 miles away. Christmas Day,
celebrated in the Mohamed home, was the biggest family occasion of all.

The
Smithsonian called her the 'Grandma Moses
of Stitchery', she was spoken of as a national treasure, but to her children
she was Mama, to her grandchildren she was Big Mama, and her Hassan called her
"um ", mother in Arabic. After a short illness Ethel Wright Mohamed
died on February 15, 1992.

Hussein
Mohamed Asim Shuman "Hassan Mohamed " was born August 5, 1891
at Sarhine, Syria ( now Lebanon).Sarhine
is near Zahle, which is in the Bekaa Valley, about thirty miles east of Beirut.
Hassan was the son of Nahale Klaisand Mohamed Asim Shuman . He was born a Moslem and he died a
Moslem. the religion of Islam.

Click
to Enlarge

At
the age of eighteen, in 1911, speaking only Arabic, Hassan voluntarily
left his homeland for America "the new land of opportunity"
and "the land of second chance". He had heard intriguing
stories about the United States. In leaving Sarhine, he left a home
and did not know where the next one was.

He
purchased his ticket in Marseille, France and was a passenger on the French
steamship - La Bretagne, leaving LeHarve, France, in which landed him
in the United States. U S Immigration officers at Ellis Island, New York
examined him and he passed with flying colors. The person in the United
States to whom he was coming was Nave Salam of Utica, New York, The same
year Hassan left Utica for Mississippi, his final destination.

The Peddler- The Self-made Man

As
an 18-year-old and not speaking a word of English, Hassan found his new home
in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He would live with a family he had first known in
his homeland.

Clarksdale
is located in the Mississippi Delta. This was an area of very rich and fertile
soil where most people, at that time, made their living on the land, in cotton
farming.

Hassan
arrived in Clarksdale with about $64.00, in his pocket. The head of the host
family was a merchant. I regret I do not know this person's name. At wholesale
cost, Hassen bought a small suitcase and about $12.00 worth of merchandise, from
the merchant friend.

Setting
out on foot, carrying his suitcase filled with items to sell, he was looking
down the road of success. Peddling, for him was a unique business. It required
no experience, no capital and just enough English to get by. He quickly learned
the basic words he needed to know in this struggle to succeed. He had no problem
dealing with money, as most people in this world used the Arabic
numeral system.All of his
sales transactions were done in cash. He would bargain with his customers and he
knew the first lesson of making a profit was to get his cost back first.

Click to
Enlarge

Walking
the rural dusty roads, and hobbling over the frozen ruts, he went door to door
to the scattered, isolated farmhouses, in search for customers. He sold lace,
jewelry, watches, needles, threads, buttons, combs, and other small articles.
The women of the houses were pleased, as these were some much-needed items and
the nearest store was miles away. It was reported that he sold everything the
first day. With a nice profit, he bought more merchandise from his merchant
friend and did this day after day. He soon had regular customers and would even
take orders for the next call.

It
was not an easy life. Suffering from blistering heat and severe cold, at the end
of the day, he would return to his new home, tired and weary with aching bones
and at times soaking wet from rain.

I
wonder, at this point, if he longed for his 'old country' home, the place he
knew best and how he felt about all he had given up, his family, his friends and
his religion, only to be a peddler in the Mississippi Delta.

This
young man, with determination and a strong will, lived to tell his stories to
his children.

Having
prospered and with a better command of the English language, in just a few years
Hassan had earned enough money to buy a horse and a wagon. Work was much easier.
More territory could be covered and more merchandise could be supplied to his
customers such as yard goods, hand tools, blankets and even suitcases.

His
customers looked forward to his visits with the big," rolling store"
of merchandise. It was a happy event. The whole family would assemble and choose
the articles they wanted.

Even
though he was young, able bodied and in certain terms financially succeeding,
this rigorous life most certainly was taking an inward, bodily and religious
toll on him, as he daily prayed to Allah.

The Merchant

In
1922, at the age of 29, still a bachelor, with money in the bank, he had amassed
enough capital to open his first Dry Good Store with his partner, Dave Homod.
His peddling days were over. He had peddled for eleven years. Nine years in
Clarksdale, two years in Jonestown, Mississippi and now he was an established
merchant in Shaw. This is where he met his beautiful Ethel Wright and shortly
afterwards married her on April 21, 1924. The first three children Ollie, Hazel
and Nina Mae were born in Shaw, Mississippi.

The
temptation was always there for him to find his fortune farther on.Three years later, in 1927 Hassan moved his family to Belzoni,
Mississippi. He and his partner had a building constructed for their new D.
Homod and H. Mohamed General Store. Finally, this contented settler found his
Utopia in this thriving county seat, located on the banks of the Yazoo River,
eighty miles North of Jackson where the rich black soil deposited by the
Mississippi River and the hot climate formed an almost perfect combination for
the staple crop, cotton.

After
triumphing over his many hardships, a few years later he would be faced with the
lowest part of a business cycle, The GreatDepression. With a wife and a larger
family he was determined not to yield to the threat of losing the one thing he
depended on for his family's survival, his store. With long hours of hard work
and distressful worries, this master merchant made it through.He did not have a business failure, or lose his life savings.

As
very little money was in circulation during the depression, the barter system
had to be used when there could be no sales transaction. The customer supplied
the food such as, fresh eggs, milk, garden vegetables, pork, turkeys, and
chickens. The merchant furnished the shoes, cloth, warm coats, and rubber hip
boots, just to name a few. Customer and merchant's families alike were clothed
and had food on the table. Hassan's children were not aware there was
depression. I might add that we corrupted him; he finally ate bacon.

Becoming an American Citizen

This
hopefully will clear up any question about Hassan's name. He was born into the
large Shuman family in Sarhine. Arriving in America, using his old country
customs he was Hassan Mohamed, never stating that he was from the family of
Shuman or the house of Shuman.

In
establishing his successful businesses he used the name Hassan Mohamed and had
secured excellent credit with manufactures, suppliers and especially Dun and
Bradstreet, Inc., the New York firm who published the names and credit ratings
of companies and individuals.

At
that time, under the Department of Labor, the Immigration and Naturalization
Service supervised and prepared the aliens and legal residents of the United
States for naturalization, by providing citizenship textbooks to the public
schools.

Hassan
was diligent and with painstaking effort he attended the necessary classes.
There was a time when he almost gave up, having to read about Cora and
succotash. I never could understand why he had that word, succotash. I thought
an ear of corn would have done just as well.

Having
complied with the naturalization laws of the United States, the courts ordered
that Hassan Mohamed be admitted as an American citizen of the United States, on
November 21, 1932.

In
obtaining his citizenship he had a difficult decision to make, as to what his
legal name would be. If he kept the name Shuman he would have to make major
changes in all of his business connections. After many agonizing thoughts and
serious consideration, it was settled, he would drop the Shuman and keep the
Hassan Mohamed intact. The name was changed, by order of the Court, from Hussein
Mohamed Shuman to Hassan Mohamed on February 22, 1933.

Separate Ways

The
D. Homod and H. Mohamed business continued until 1943, when the time came to
dissolve the partnership. It was done in a friendly and orderly manner. The
merchandise was divided equally and they literally put a sheet rock petition
down the middle of the large store. Each of the smaller stores had its own main
entrance, one being D. Homod and the other H. Mohamed. Business thrived, again. World
War 11 was taking place.

The Family Man

Hassan
transformed into the commanding American way of life, giving up much of his
Moslem culture. He held on to his mother tongue and never forgot his family
bonds in the ' Old Country'.

The
strong attachment he had for Ethel and his children gave assurance to everyone,
that he adored his family. Five more children had been born into the Mohamed
clan. They were named Joy, Joseph, June, Hassan, Jr. and Carol the eighth child.

He
was a stern Father and we were all good children. You, the reader can be sure of
that. He would be gentle and lenient, we all knew he had that soft spot in his
heart.He was generous and
unselfish. He would laugh and cry, with us. He lived to see a few of his
nineteen grandchildren born and all of his children grown and married.Not one, of his eight children, was a disappointment to him.

Hassan
was in favor of his children being reared in the Christian faith of their
mother. He was civic minded and active in community affairs. He was a member of
the Belzoni Masonic Lodge # 547 and 32nd Scottish Rite..He was alsoa member of the Wahabi Shrine Temple in Jackson, Mississippi
and held offices in theses organizations.

Hassan
had bought the big white, framed house that became the comfortable family home.
There was, "dear to our hearts, today, but much feared, then", the
strict Mittie Price, our housekeeper. Others who helped with the chores in
taking care of a large family included the quiet, gentle Cora Reed.

Not
being a farmer, Hassan did understand investing in the wealth of the earth,
which is the source of all things. He
wanted a part of it. In doing so, he became the proud owner of Mississippi
farmland, seven miles outside of town. He called it 'Ashwood'.

In
the evenings, after dinner, there would be special story telling time. He would
tell tales he had heard as a child, like Saint
George and the Dragon, The Girl with
the Iron Hand stories from The Arabian
Nights, only theones he wanted us
to hear. Listening to Ali Baba and the
Forty Thieves, and Aladdin and theWonderful Lamp mesmerized us.

The
numbers were small, but a few Arabs migrated into the Mississippi Delta. There
was Charlie Abraham, Hassan's first cousin, Sam Shipley, his second cousin, and
others from Sarhine. They found their solace in each other. They talked about
their homeland, and had large Sunday family dinners with their traditional
foods; there was cracked wheat dishes, Kibby, lamb, stuffed eggplant, laban
(yogurt), and lentils, just to name a few.

For
his own family's consumption, Hassan would place large orders for imported
ingredients and foods from Syria and Lebanon with A. Sahadi & Co. Inc., New
York, a chief importer. As children we looked forward to this, .I especially
remember the Jordan Almonds, Halawa(sweets), mixed dried fruits, and bags
of shredded wheat cakes.

Going Home Again

In
the spring of 1949, Hassan saw his homeland for the first time in thirty-eight
years. He and Ethel sailed for a six-month European and Mediterranean vacation
with Sarhine, Lebanon as their destination.

They
enjoyed many more years of happiness, devoted to each other, relishing in the
fact that there was no doubt or seconds thoughts about their marriage to each
other.

Fifty
four years after arriving in America at the age of 18, a marriage of forty
one years and eight children, Hassan found himself facing the ultimate struggle,
a long illness. He still dreamed of his homeland, took pride in his family and
was pleased with his status by the achievements. Surrounded by his loving family
he died March 23, 1965.

This
brief biography of Hassan Mohamed is written by his oldest daughter, his second
child.

It
is an honor and a joy to write about my Daddy. I am aware of my inadequacy in
showing the gratification he so well deserves.